Safe travels to our co-artistic director Tamsin ✈️ She’s off to Uganda next week as part of the Communication & Creativity project, a 3-year collaboration with the @universityofleeds.bsky.social She’ll be co-directing a new play with We Are Walukuba, a community theatre group based in Jinja!

🥁OPEN CALL: Public Art Commission We’re looking for an artist to develop a site-responsive artwork for Sheepscar Beck in Leeds. £4,550 artist fee + £15,000 production budget Deadline: 13 April, 9am Apply: buff.ly/e9HUQis

Our spring Art Club workshops with Lens Lab began this week, so we’re looking back at Photogreening, a photography project Mafwa members created a few years ago with photographer Emily Ryalls.

Last week we took a group of participants over to Bradford for a little day trip to visit the Turner Prize exhibition at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery🖼️ The shortlisted works draw on themes of memory, labour, migration, care, power & place, playing with colour, shape & texture in really striking ways.

We love being part of Leeds’ amazing food growing community 🌱 If Lincoln Greeners or the Roxby Community Garden has meant something to you, nominations for the Feed Leeds Food Growing Awards are open🥕. Anyone can nominate! Details below

A few moments from last month’s Communication & Creativity performance. What began as conversations about family & tradition grew into scenes full of joy, chaos & tenderness, shaped through play & improvisation. Sharing this with friends felt like the perfect way to celebrate. 📸Annabel Cohen

At the end of November, the lovely folks from the Nature Neighbourhoods team stopped by Roxby Community Garden for a little autumn reset 🧹🍂 We spent the morning litter picking, tidying the space and restocking the vegetable library as winter set in.

Last chance for Christmas delivery 🎄 Order by Fri 19 Dec for guaranteed delivery! Our shop features prints, pins & more, with every purchase supporting our work with refugee and asylum seeker communities in Leeds. www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/shop

A few moments from our Communication & Creativity workshops at @universityofleeds.bsky.social Over the past few weeks, participants have been sharing stories, exploring family life and thinking about the joyful, awkward and chaotic moments that happen when generations and traditions come together.

You’re invited! 🎉 Join us for a final sharing of scenes from our Communication & Creativity workshops, exploring how culture is passed on across generations & the chaotic celebrations that bring families together across the world. 📍 Stage@Leeds 🗓 17 Dec, 12–2pm RSVP: [email protected]

Over the last 2 years we’ve been part of Nature Neighbourhoods, a national pilot exploring how community orgs can lead meaningful, place-based action for people and nature. What a joy to learn alongside so many brilliant groups across the UK @rspb.bsky.social @wwf.org.uk @nationaltrust.org.uk

leeds gift ideas 🧵 (trying to focus on local creators and institutions, I'm sure I'll miss some classics)

✨Little gifts with a big impact ✨ Every item in our shop holds a story & every purchase helps us continue to offer free creative sessions, travel support, childcare to over 200 participants each year. 🎁If you’re choosing thoughtful gifts this season, our shop is open buff.ly/LYa9IQr

We’re so proud that Lincoln Greeners won Environmental Achievement of the Year at the Leeds Compassionate City Awards!🦉🧡 From a small weekly gardening group to a thriving community growing food, sharing skills and transforming the neighbourhood - this award belongs to everyone who’s been part of it.

⚠️ Following yesterday’s announcement by the Home Secretary to radically overhaul the UK asylum system, we condemn in the strongest terms the proposals made. The scale and scope of the measures announced are abhorrent and represent a catastrophic threat to the right to refugee protection. 🧵1/4

🍂 We’ve spent the last month running Art Club with Space2 - free creative mornings using leaves and natural materials. Everyone’s been experimenting in their own way, and it’s been such a lovely mix of play, colour and seasonal creativity! www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/current-proj...

🌿 Filming at the Roxby Community Garden! The Nature Neighbourhoods team joined us in the Roxby Community Garden the other week to film a short piece celebrating the end of the project and highlighting Mafwa’s involvement. 🎥 Keep your eyes peeled for the finished video!

We’re thrilled to receive funding from Unlimited & the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to upgrade equipment & spaces for our weekly groups 🌿🎭 This small capital funding will help us make our creative spaces more accessible & welcoming for refugees, asylum seekers & settled communities in Leeds.

The Lincoln Greeners were savouring the best of both seasons earlier this month. We enjoyed the late summer sun whilst preparing for the months ahead, picking vine leaves & harvesting pumpkins. 🍁 Shoutout to Asnie, who brought her sash along to celebrate being a Miss Global England finalist! 👑

🍁 New this autumn: Art Club 🎨 Free weekly creative mornings in Roxby Community Garden with Mafwa Theatre & Space2. Explore playful, nature-inspired art like cyanotypes, leaf prints & more. Spaces are limited so sign up today! www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/sign-up

✨ Kuluhenna Drama returns 25 Sept! Free, weekly drama group for women & non-binary people from refugee, asylum seeker & settled communities. Thursdays 10:30–12 at Anglers Club, LS9. Sign up 👉 www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/current-proj...

In a time when division is often in the headlines, it’s vital to share projects creating space for dialogue & solidarity.We’re proud to feature in Chapel FM’s Bridges Not Borders, a brilliant series empowering refugees & asylum seekers to share stories. 🎧 Listen: www.chapelfm.co.uk/elfm-player/...

We’re opening our doors at Patrick Studios this Sat for Leeds Open Studios (11–14 Sept)! Step inside artists’ workspaces, meet makers & join activities. Our studio will be open for a nosy + we’ll be manning a stall downstairs, come say hi! eaststreetarts.org.uk/event/open-s...

☀️It’s been a summer full of good weather & good growth & the Lincoln Greeners have been busy soaking it up. We’ve welcomed new faces, shared meals, enjoyed harvests & made the most of the season. Now we’re looking forward to settling into the rhythm of planting, pruning & gathering as autumn beckons

Everyday we are confronted by the relentless brutality and weight of multiple protracted crisises. We can’t ignore our rage, but we won’t be consumed by it. "Hope is a Discipline" is a short #SolidarityKnowsNoBorders film resource for changemakers. Watch with us 🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8AD...

🌱✨What a summer it’s been with Garden Gremlins! Over the past month, several hundred children & parents joined us in Roxby Community Garden, filling the space with colour, laughter & creative chaos.

🌞 Garden Gremlins starts tomorrow! Our free summer art club for families kicks off Thursday 11am–4pm in the Roxby Community Garden. Drop in any time. Stay as long as you like. Everyone’s welcome. 💚

☀️Such a lovely day out on Thursday with some of our Kuluhenna Drama & Lincoln Greeners crew! We took a trip to Temple Newsam and explored the house, learnt about its history and amazing art collection, then wandered over to the farm to see the piglets 🐷 and spring lambs 🐑

Amazing work, having a safe, welcoming place to land can be life changing. Big love to @refugeesathome.bsky.social and everyone opening their doors and making space where it’s needed most.

Our thoughts are with the people seeking safety, including children, who have been targeted with racist harassment, threats and violence outside the buildings in which they have been forced to live.

🌞 Just in time for summer – our brand new enamel pin is here! Inspired by the Roxby Community Garden, it’s a pocket-sized celebration of everything we’ve grown together. Prices start at £2.50 - or get one for free when you spend £10+ 💛 www.mafwatheatre.co.uk/shop/p/mafwa...

🌱Last month, Bei & Danmore took a trip to the beautiful Meanwood Valley Urban Farm to lead a workshop for the Nature Recovery & Connections Conference, part of the @climateactionleeds.bsky.social Festival.

✨ Still feeling the love from Refugee Week 2025 ✨ Family Flourish Day was full of joy, music, dancing & play. Catch up on the week with photos, a brilliant Chapel FM radio piece & ways to support our work: tinyurl.com/3yyw3cjk

🌿🖍️ Garden Gremlins is back! Join our free family art club - a space to build, play & explore together in the Roxby Community Garden. 🎨Each week, we’ll use natural materials to explore colour, shape & imagination. No need to book, just drop in & enjoy some creative time outdoors! 🌞Open to all ages

Playbox is open & day one was a blast! Over 80 kids joined us for bubbles, water play & creative fun in the sun 🫧☀️ Families even brought picnic blankets & stayed to eat dinner by the box! A joyful start to #RefugeeWeek 🧡 Find us by Granville Rd/Ferriby Towers: Wed–Fri 2–5pm | Sat 11–4 | Sun 1–6

Alongside performances & workshops, the garden will be full of activities & stalls to explore this Sunday.. 🌼Get creative with Space2’s natural craft activities 🌿Visit the Lincoln Greeners stall for fresh produce & teabag making 🎓Chat to the Lifelong Learning Centre about learning opps & resources

This year’s Family Flourish Day invites you to move, breathe & connect through 2 dance workshops offering a unique window into culture, tradition & connection💃 🇿🇼 Mambokadzi Dance Workshop: Led by Zimbabwean choreographer Enisia Mashusha, this workshop fuses African rhythms, storytelling & movement.

Getting ready for the first Playbox session in LS9 today! Water play, & creative games incoming 💦☀️ Find us next to Granville Rd/Ferriby Towers 📍The Playbox is open all week: Tues–Fri: 2–5pm, Sat: 11–4pm, Sun: 1–6pm

Join LASSN for a night of films showcasing perspectives on life as a refugee/asylum seeker from around the world. Thursday 19th June 6:00pm Archive, Kirkstall Road, LS3 1HD www.eventbrite.com/e/lassn-refugee-week-short-film-festival-tickets-1381952780969 contact [email protected] for ticket help

“Our people are not voiceless. They’re just waiting to be heard” - listening to Sabah Achide of MEMEC at Leeds International African Arts Festival’s ‘North African Narratives’ this morning

@retasleeds.bsky.social are screening a very special film - ‘Life is Beautiful: A Letter to Gaza’, for our community with an art workshop beforehand to express ourselves. Free to all. Thursday 19th June 6:00 pm St Luke’s Church, Malvern Rd, LS11 8PD More info: [email protected] / 07523911196

Playbox01 has touched down in LS9! Join us & Playful Anywhere for free family fun this Refugee Week 🎉 Playbox is a big shipping container choc-full of creative games, crafts, & space to build, explore & unwind. Whether you’re 2 or 92 - play is for everyone

This #RefugeeWeek, #OurSuperpower is growing together 🧡 We're celebrating the power of community to transform spaces & lives through creativity, care & connection. Our Family Flourish Day is a reflection of what happens when neighbours, artists & families come together to grow something beautiful🌱

🚲 Leeds Bike Mill is back for this years Family Flourish Day! Drop by for free bike checks, minor repairs & advice from their friendly mechanics. You can also learn what’s on offer at your local active travel hub whilst you’re getting your wheels fixed🛠️ #RefugeeWeek #FamilyFlourishDay

🌟Meet some of the brilliant groups joining us at Family Flourish Day! 🌟 🎪 Clowns Without Borders -
Specialists in silliness & joy,Clowns Without Borders support children globally to heal, learn & thrive. They’ll be leading a kids workshop filled with games, movement & playful expression!

🌼 Volunteers needed for Family Flourish Day! Join us on 22 June for our Refugee Week celebration Can you give 3+ hours between 3–9pm? New and returning volunteers welcome! 📍 Sign up: buff.ly/9vWfFrF

🎟️The Participation Research Group at the School of Performance & Cultural Industries are hosting an afternoon of provocations & reflections for artists, organisers & cultural workers navigating creativity, care & resistance. 📍June 26th, Banham Theatre in Leeds www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/lee...

🌱Help us grow our garden! The Lincoln Greeners are looking for a few bits to support our gardening sessions, especially items to help us create bug hotels, a mini pond & expand our veg beds🐞🌾 If you’ve got anything to spare, just drop us a message!

📢 Artist call-out! Yorkshire Contemporary & Hamara Healthy Living Centre are commissioning 2 artists to lead creative play sessions for under 5s Info session: 3rd June Apply by: 16th June Apply here: yorkshirecontemporary.org/jobs-opportu...

Fresh off the press! Our Family Flourish Day flyers have arrived 💃